For years, the military, the police and white supremacists have displayed the skull symbol of Marvel's comic-book outlaw the . Given the nature of his work, Frank Castle is pretty much the ultimate loner. Protect the innocent. The time he spent in the war was at an indispensable time in his life. As far as fandoms go, its a controversial one. This is part of why he kills those who take up his symbol. Plot Keywords. Post-apocalyptic TV dramas dont have to be cynical or atomizing they can inspire a politics of care and mutual aid. While Daredevil and the rest of the Defenders tend to let the law take care of human criminals, the Punisher prefers taking care of them himself. In doing so, does he become as bad as those he sets himself against? In flashbacks, we learn that Rawlins enlisted Castle in a lawless underground subsect of the military called Project Cerberus, in which he commanded soldiers to torture and murder perceived enemies to the point where it would be considered terrorism. Most recently, Frank Castles totenkopf has become an integral part of the pushback against protests over the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. A common cause of genetic limp is having one leg that is significantly shorter than the other. The reasons for this attraction are varied, but tend to focus on the characters status as a non-superpowered man willing to push his mind and body to the brink in order to do what he thinks is right. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day. He killed bad guys. Synopsis Less of a violent overtone, more of a promise to criminals: You might think youre getting away with it, but its karma. In this story, he meticulously kills each hero and villain, beginning with Cyclops. He-Man wasn't the only character that Lundgren played that was from an existing property though. Most of the time it is more mild. They think were crazed, delusional, and dare I say lawless types because we view the Punisher character as an individual that picks up where our justice system drops the ball. Pretty much every sex scene in the show lasts 30 seconds at most. It was a focal marketing point for The Punisher, the new 13-episode series streaming on Netflix. Less clear-cut is the shows relationship to violence as an aesthetic, but the people behind it say they dont intend to make it sexy. There, he was invariably used as a foil to the more pure-hearted heroes. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. But I dont feel that way. Lundgren accepted and become the bodyguard of Grace Jones. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. While Walter Brennan was preparing for his role in "To Have and Have Not", his friend, sound effects technician Jack Foley suggested to him that he put a rock in his shoe to create a limp. Unlike most others, Frank was brought back in three very different ways when he died. Frank believes, for better or for worse, that the only way to keep a criminal from repeating a crime is by ending their life. A man is shot in the head via long range sniper fire. Brennan did so and that is how he learned his rather genuine-looking fake limp. From a young age, there were signs of how Frank would turn out. The blood looked more real as well in season 1. The Punisher is a symbol of doing the right thing by any means necessary. The most recent iteration of The Punisher (All New Marvel Now!) I blame the media selling and supporting war., Fans with that viewpoint will find much to love in the Netflix show. Look, I know how important this character is to you guys, and I know how important he is to law enforcement, to the military, he said. He even was an avid reader and poetry lover as a child! (His co-stars included Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.) I, myself, have personally seen certain types arrested for serious crimes and get off easy with either a cake sentence or simply allowed to walk due to a technicality. 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He returned to the pages of Spider-Man and Daredevil and Captain America for the rest of the 70s and early 80s. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. In the film, Black love is free of colonial baggage. But I dont think that has to do with the superhero genre. Fury of the Gods Special: Shazamily Matters, The X-Men's Greatest Adversary is Now the Last of His Kind, DCeased Transformed a Batman Family Member Into the Most Powerful Hero in the DC Universe, 10 Ways Marvel Has Made Spider-Man Stronger Over The Years. My love for the character was certainly a large factor in my decision to join the military, and during my time in, whenever I was faced with any type of problem, I could ask myself, What would Frank do? As long as the answer wasnt kill everyone, I knew it was the right thing to help get me through. Plus, the Punisher doesnt have to deal with paperwork. Their published fiction includes the prose superhero story "Typical Heroes" released by Diabolical Plots and the sci-fi story "Antediluvian" in the anthology A Flash of Silver-Green. A man is hanged to death in an abandoned warehouse. I'm a nerd who loves movies, comics, video games, and television. Jon Bernthal knows his audience. I gave all that up a long time ago. Some of the biggest fans of the Punisher are people in the military and police officers and this is for a few reasons. In his first appearance, Frank Castle was introduced as a villain in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #129 in 1974. The Punisher kills people he feels deserve it. Police instructor and former police sergeant Charles E. Humes Jr. said in an article about the same topic, No matter what an offender did or how much they truly deserve it in anyones opinion, it is never our job to punish an offender. Even the characters co-creator, writer Gerry Conway, says he found Chris Kyles passion for the Punisher unsettling: I dont think he understood the fundamental truth that the Punisher is not a man to admire or emulate., That truth has been baked into the character since Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru built him out in the early 70s. Not overly graphic, but much blood sprays on the protagonists face as the act takes place. While Lundgren was preparing to move to Boston, he was working as a bouncer in Sydney in order to bring in some extra cash. On October 14, 1982, Ronald Reagan declared a new war on drugs. In October of 1984, he signed the Comprehensive Crime Control Act into law, helping to usher in a new era of civil asset forfeiture and mandatory minimums. Despite the early-season drama, its still (almost) anyones game to win. If you found the piece above useful, informative, or inspiring, please consider supporting Truthout with a tax-deductible donation. They like watching that guy, and go, No ones going to write him up for that. They look at that as kind of wanting his job, without the whole dead-family thing., All of that said, not everyone in law enforcement and the military consider the characters nuances. That said, some of the qualities that the Punisher has are very admirable. What set him apart from other heroes and even villains was not just his penchant for murder, but how personal he took each encounter. Simply. Jon Bernthal, whose father was a corporate lawyer (and now chair of the board of directors for the Humane Society), enjoyed a privileged upbringing in Washington, D.C. where he attended Sidwell Friends, the same private school that counts Chelsea Clinton and Sasha and Malia Obama among its alumni. After he realized he was being fooled, The Punisher sided with Spidey and fought against The Jackal. There are several crucial aspects of Frank Castles past that directly lead to him becoming The Punisher. This development came as a shock to many, but really it is the only logical conclusion to the cult of death that Frank Castle has inspired. "I absolutely fell in love with Russian culture, Russian people, he later said. Few are as important as the death of his children and wife at the hands of the Costa mob family. This introductory juxtaposition against Daredevil served to set up Punisher's characteristic ethos: he has no qualms about killing criminals. They currently live in North Carolina with their spouse, two adorable cats, and an ever-growing book-hoard. From the moment he was given his own series, it was used to push reactionary ideas and dangerous fiction. Some scenes of heads being bashed in with sound effects. Many hate and fear his unrestrained violence. The logo of the Punisher is as intimidating, and controversial, as Frank Castle himself. A man and a woman are shown making out until the man gets shot in the head. His senior thesis, The Punisher: Microcosm to Evoke the Macrocosm, won high distinction from the schools honors program. For a man who served in the military and sacrificed so much for his country, it may seem odd that he became a murderous vigilante. In front of everybody here, I will beat your a**.". As an anti-hero, one can expect The Punisher to not always align himself with other heroes or even villains, but Frank Castle usually takes it a step further than that. Whatever one thinks of the end product, you cant argue that it glorifies the way governments sponsor violence. - user001. Its time we treated it like one. Plot Summary Neuromuscular disorders Limping may be the result of neuromuscular disorders, such as the following. And we spray-painted it on every building or wall we could. Crucial quote "Frank Castle would beat Sean Hannity into a . For instance, Frank is a Vietnam veteran known for his expertise as a soldier in almost all of his incarnations. The main motivation of the Punisher in this new series is entrenched in his origin story, which we learned about in Daredevil. So you can expect a lot more blood and death in The Punisher than any of the other Defenders series. Police have been seen across the country wearing variations of the symbol, frequently while beating and tear-gassing peaceful protesters. A few notable ones are Batman, Green Goblin, and Iron Man. In boot camp, we are constantly yelling kill, says James Gomes, a Punisher fan who ran a security squad for the Marines in Iraq. In response to the officers suspension, the president of the St. Louis Police union issued a statement, calling on all supporters to change their profile pictures to the Blue Line Punisher symbol in protest. Huge mistake. We can expect a media universe where a shrinking labor force is exploited to feed ChatGPT so it can churn out clickbait. There are plenty of heroes and villains that have massive arsenals. In continuity and outside of continuity, The Punisher has made some powerful enemies with some of Marvels greatest heroes. The idea that the police are supposed to be given a pass on laws theyre held to enforce is incomprehensible. Whats Next for Convicted Sex Criminals Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly? Offscreen, he was one himself. Bernthal helped Holland by reading lines off-camera for an audition type; Holland acted onscreen in a similar video for Punisher producers. The Punisher carries the tradition to its logical and deadly extreme. Here's more! 2. Ennis's run, considered one of the definitive modern versions of The Punisher, birthed the basis of the "dripping teeth" skull appropriated by others, such as merchandisers selling pro-police wares. A man is choked to death in an airport bathroom. Due to the Punisher's merciless crime-fighting tactics, he naturally acquires more enemies than allies. Hes the violent part of us that yearns to do something about it. In early May 2009, Lundgren's home was reportedly broken into by three masked burglars who tied up and threatened his wife but fled when they found a family photo and realized that the house was owned by Lundgren. Though he loved his fellow warriors, he detests the immoral men who send grunts to foreign abattoirs and ignore them if they return. Frank rips the sticker off and says, Were not the same. Later, Police Chief Cameron Logan told io9: Were getting so many calls, and theyre saying that the Punisher logo [means] were out to kill people, and thats not the meaning behind that. Cameron added that he would do a little more research in the future.